Under Fire (2021– ) User Reviews

A decent watch

[friekie6 · 8/10 · 27 April 2022]

No idea why the other reviews are so negative, because I liked it. The acting was generally good, the characters have interesting storylines going for them, though in my opinion they did put in a bit too much at once at times.

I was invested enough in the storyline, acting and characters to blaze right through it. I will say that the characters do go too far in forgiving some of each other's wrongdoings, like being part of the crew means all your sins will be forgiven, no matter how grave.

Actually quite decent Europe/Netherlands 911 Show

[xerses-90955 · 7/10 · 31 August 2022]

I am a Big Fan of 911/911 Lone Star,so i use them as Measurement, but i think this Show holds his Ground.

It is relateable,the Stories inside are interesting,the Emergencies are maybe not sooo dramatic but not unrealistic and way better than other 911-Clone Shows.

The Stories are not stretched over 39 episodes,hihihi.

I like the Cast,they look ordinary which fits to the more-real-feel.

Its true this Show probably doesn´t had Big-Budget,but isn´t low-budget,either. There is no big CGI-Effects,or special filters for the Camera,still it looks good,sounds goods,more real.

I did enjoy it and recommend it.

Excellent TV Drama

[denalees · 8/10 · 30 December 2023]

Totally enjoyed this show! Very exciting and a great story line with the characters!

My only complaint is the English translation of the script.

First, I do not know why the English version has so many terrible ways they think English speaking people cuss! One phrase was overused and not they way people use the phrase!

Next, the use of "assistant" instead of "adjutant" or Lieutenant. Did they not think English people know what an adjutant means? Using the word assistant sounds more like a personal assistant instead of second in command.

It felt as if the English translation was dumbed down. As if all English speaking people cannot look up words and find out what they mean, or that we all just talk to each other using only a few simple phrases!

I did notice in Episode 10 that it seems like someone got a clue and stopped reusing the same cuss phrase and included more correct usage of English phrases to express frustration, anger and emotional upset!

OK

[robin_should · 6/10 · 26 August 2022]

I started watching this series as at the moment not a lot else to watch. I am only on episode 4 and I'm waiting to see if I can give it more stars along the way. I do find one thing really disturbing. This show is about firemen, I have the greatest respect for these people, but Orlando who seems to think he always knows best, drives himself and his 5 yearold(?) son around without seat belts!!!!!! I'm sure this is something someone in this job, in real life, would not do. Maybe the producers should think about what a terrible example they are showing.

Definitely worth the watch!

[info-37063 · 10/10 · 24 August 2022]

Loved the interventions, the actors and the shots. Nicely filmed and great atmosphere. For a Flemish series absolutely something innovative and worth the watch!

Story is fine, quality is horrible

[jermainlurvink-94246 · 3/10 · 11 October 2022]

What is wrong with the team producing this serie? Empty hose running inside a house while the other shot shows them inside with water. Securing a basket from a hot air balloon with a climbing rope is sufficient? Women is getting a baby in a car sitting upright, the baby has no umbilical cord, and the same cars a stalking the seen over and over driving past (don't mention the shots are far from lining up with the cars). No overlapping duty's? The old luitenant says he was early so he wouldn't see other people?! And the go home every evening like a office job? Welding under a fire truck because repairs a needed in a active duty?(don't mention the metal he welded stays red/orange glowing for a long time in the shot)

And the "5 George K" radio chatter in Belgium! And repeating every shot?

I'm not finished with the serie.

Can't wait for the rest of the quirks. Maybe watch it twice to see what i missed.

Poor Copy of US show

[mysafetyemonline · 4/10 · 31 August 2022]

Almost Identical casting To Chicago Fire, the friendships, personalities, issues with a corrupt and dishonest Administrator, etc.

The voice overs are not great, tone/words, wrong.

Lots of obvious lazy fire/health mistakes too. For instance, a firefighter tries to take a bloody knife away from someone and gets jabbed. No mention of going to hospital to get checked out for tetanus or other possible diseases?

The rescue by a fireman that was deadly would never have happened. Never.

Get better writers and stop copying American shows. We crave the uniqueness of EU programs!

600 words is absurd!! It used to be less what gives?

Not worth watching.

[dirkvdbh · 1/10 · 15 November 2021]

Very weak storyline. Don't come across as credible. Very disappointing. Bad acting. To leave a valid review you must use at least 150 characters while you can summarize everything in one word ... rubbish. Total waste of time.

Thrilling!

[armandehandschutter · 1/10 · 15 September 2021]

Nice Flemish series with a lot of action, the camera shots are very cool and realistic. Louis Talpa plays and amazing role as sergeant! Overall I recommend this series especially when you are an action/thriller fan.

Unrealistic actions for drama's sake

[logitestus-97627 · 3/10 · 25 August 2022]

So I am not a firefighter by trade but I have firefighting training. So good points:

1) when the hose-people went in, they had on their masks and they crawled around.

2) They took a charged hose with them 3) They correctly treated each door as a possible danger point.

4) They didn't just spray water everywhere when they didn't see flames

Bad points (and the reason for why this review):

1) when fire was found they sat there staring at it. As professionals, this shouldn't be something new to them.

2) they had a charged hose (aka a hose with water flowing through it), why didn't they start trying to putting out the fire or at least suppressing it once they found it? They just sat there and treated the fire as something they couldn't help reduce (the plot/whatever, and I am guessing here, was to wait for the ladder truck to pour water from the outside?) or initially put it out?

Was this done to increase drama? Make the scene seem more dangerous? It totally took me outside the show and was the deciding factor on just turning it off.

3) female firefighter - I have known plenty of professional competent female firefighters. Instead they have the only one, complaining of it being too hot? Unless she was a totally untrained rookie, this shouldn't be an issue for she is holding a charged hose (which she has used several times before earlier). Also she wasn't "in" the fire like the 2 other firefighters, they would have been much hotter. Once again, the writers/producers/directors seem to have made a horrible decision to make the scene be more dramatic.

4) Why was a firefighter attempting to arrest someone? There were police there and they are in communication with someone outside. I could understand making sure the person left the building safely but tackling him? Why? More whatever to make the scene "hard-hitting"?

For those reasons, I decided to skip watching this series. This is also why I don't bother watching Grey's Anatomy or other shows of it's ilk. Professional people making very bad rookie decisions to make the drama more exciting? No thank you.

Totally overrated!. . . .

[deboraey · 3/10 · 6 October 2021]

I was hugely disappointed seeing this . . . I had no connection to any of the characters in it, and couldn't have cared less what happened to them. Many of the characters were awful stereotypes with no depth at all. The script was rather boring, the sub-plots were ridiculous and very cliché-like. The camera movements and direction were really often irritating (especially the moving camera gives you a headache after a while).

One or two of the actors tried their best and were good but that isn't enough when the material is so awfull.

Furthermore, I don't know how they did it but the colours made this series look like it all happened in the 1950's!

Also the city of Oostende looks like a very grim and depressing place especially from the many scenes in the rain and half-light, so it seems a rather miserable place to live.

Now in fact Oostende is a very lively and beautiful town and it doesn't deserve this very ungroomy representation.

I decided to stop watching the series after seeing two episodes because I coudn't stand it anymore and frankly couldn't care less about what happened next.

I have watched many series and OK this isn't the worest series I have ever seen, but it has a boring storyline, boring and cliché subplots and a total lack of character development. In short this is a totally overrated series !

Unsatisfactory

[stefan-smans · 5/10 · 15 November 2021]

It is the actors who make the series rise above itself. Without Dirk van Dijck, Sam Louwijck or Ann Tuts, not much remains.

After weeks of waiting for suspense, I was left hanging. It is a collection of unfinished stories.

The power of the profession as a fire brigade is partly lost in this unsuspenseful story.

The last episode in particular was an example of how not to finish a series.

As far as storytelling is concerned, this is one of the lesser series and can be compared to Jan de Lichte's. Unfortunate. This could have been a worthy successor to Alfa Papa Tango.

Amateur fire brigade

[carmen163 · 1/10 · 9 April 2023]

I don't know where to start... this is the most amateuristic fire brigade there has ever been. They don't know what way to drive to the building on fire, they find there is a colleague missing only after they are sitting in the fire engine, there is no coordination between police, ambulance and the fire brigade, the police are blocking the street entrance with their car, they continue to use water after they found out they are in a drughouse (like they don't know mixing chemicals with water can cause major explosions), one fireman chases a victim - leaving his colleagues behind, their commanding officer has to ask for an update every 10 seconds, they have to ask their colleague to spray water all the time, they are at a loss to do with a victim, they panic...

I really don't know why people are okay with portraying this service in a way that makes them look like clowns. Fire men and women are highly skilled professionals, working in an environment that depends on good communication, anticipation and confidence in acting. People are extremely well trained. You hardly ever hear about mistakes made by these experts.

So for me, after watching how they handled the first fire, it was exit with this program. What a joke. If I was working in this area, I would consider suing this show for defamation.

Usual Belgian rubbish series

[qui_j · 2/10 · 27 April 2023]

The series starts off with a couple of short scenes that have characters coming and going. The viewer has no idea who any of them are as no context or background is provided as to their roles and relationships. It's just a random collection of scenes that follow on one another, but are unrelated. It's as if the producers have never known the concept of using a story board to ensure that the narrative unfolds in a coherent manner. The acting is terrible, and the script even worse. Nothing makes any sense even after two or three episodes. Continuing to watch would be a poor investment of time , so the best decision is just to disengage as quickly as possible. If not, hours of life will be wasted as it is time one will never get back. Belgian TV series are probably the worst productions in Europe!